The ding from the pig bite can be seen on Seiple’s board in the image above (circled). Photo: Screenshot//KJK
Surfer Ingrid Seiple was paddling out at a random surf spot near Kaena Point on northwest Oahu when she had an experience she never expected in the ocean: she was attacked by a wild boar while still in the water.
Seiple says when she first saw the animal she thought it was a seal. But as she got closer to the animal she could tell it was a pig with its hairy back. Apparently, the animal didn’t appreciate the close proximity and started swimming aggressively toward Seiple. “Suddenly its face came out of the water, it had its head under the water,” she said. “I could see the hair off its back but thought it was the bark of a floating log. Then I could see its teeth were long and it started swimming toward me like crazy. I was really scared. I started to paddle away as fast I could but I couldn’t get away from it. I pushed my board in front because it was trying to reach for me and it went smack (biting down on my rail).”
The pig bite left an unsightly crack on the board but Seiple escaped injury otherwise. “This board didn’t have any dings,” she said in disappointment. Seiple then swam under water, trying her best to get away from the animal that was extremely confused, she says, and definitely hurt. “It looked like it was injured,” she said. “It had an (abrasion of some sort) on its face.” In a separate report, Seiple mentioned that there were hunters and dogs nearby so the the boar may have been injured by the hunting party.
You can see a quick interview with Seiple below and a piece with the ABC affiliate on Oahu, here.
